ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 15 November 2013?Five family planning leaders were recognized today for driving extraordinary progress in expanding access to contraceptive information and services at the?2013 International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2013). Recipients of the first-ever?Excellence in Leadership for Family Planning (EXCELL) Awards?were chosen from among nearly 100 nominations submitted from around the world.
The 2013 EXCELL awardees are?Dr. Bocar Mamadou Daff of Senegal;?Dr. Mengistu Asnake of Ethiopia; Blue Ventures of the United Kingdom (for work in Madagascar); Banja La Mtsogolo of Malawi;?and?the Government of the Republic of Malawi. Also today, special recognition was conferred upon the?Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia?for outstanding performance in providing contraceptive services and sustaining political commitment to family planning.
The five EXCELL awards and special recognition were presented by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in its capacity as co-organizer of ICFP 2013. Awardees were selected by a committee including donors, UN agencies, foundations, international NGOs and organizations based in the Global South. ICFP 2013 is the largest gathering focused on family planning, bringing together more than 3,000 participants from over 120 countries.
?The achievements and approaches of these distinguished family planning leaders and governments deserve to be highlighted and shared,? said?Jose ?Oying? Rimon, Deputy Director of the Gates Institute. ?Their activities provide valuable lessons for what can be achieved when women and couples are provided with full access and full choice to plan their families.?
Following are profiles of the family planning leaders recognized today:
Dr. Bocar Mamadou Daff, Senegal?2013 EXCELL Awardee (Individual)
The first 2013 EXCELL award for family planning achievement at the individual level recognizes Dr. Bocar Mamadou Daff of Senegal. Dr. Daff is Director of the Reproductive Health and Child Survival Unit for the Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action. Through this role he supported the Minister of Health in the development and launch of an ambitious National Action Plan for Family Planning. Dr. Daff is a champion for research and evidence-based decision-making. He has introduced performance management practices that enable the use of data on family planning service delivery and distribution to monitor and accelerate progress toward national goals.
Dr. Mengistu Asnake, Ethiopia?2013 EXCELL Awardee (Individual)
Dr. Mengistu Asnake of Ethiopia is the second recipient of the 2013 EXCELL award for family planning achievement at the individual level. Dr. Asnake is Pathfinder International?s Country Representative in Ethiopia, and also serves as its Chief of Party for the Integrated Family Health Program. Dr. Asnake has played a key role in the development of national family planning strategies and guidelines, and has been instrumental in the creation and promotion of community-based family planning distribution in rural Ethiopia since the early 1990s. Prior to his long history with Pathfinder, Dr. Asnake worked at various levels within the Ethiopian Ministry of Health.
Blue Ventures, United Kingdom (for work in Madagascar)?2013 EXCELL Awardee (Organization)
The first 2013 EXCELL award for family planning achievement at the organization level recognizes Blue Ventures. This conservation-focused non-governmental organization works with some of Madagascar?s poorest and most isolated communities to achieve breakthroughs in family planning. The impact of its integrated Population-Health-Environment approach has been demonstrated in the Velondriake area of Madagascar, where the contraceptive prevalence rate increased more than fivefold since the program started. Blue Ventures demonstrates how environmental agencies in remote, under-served areas can address family planning needs.
Banja La Mtsogolo, Malawi?2013 EXCELL Awardee (Organization)
Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM), a Malawian non-governmental organization, is the second recipient of the 2013 EXCELL award for family planning achievement at the organization level. BLM has been crucial in transforming the availability of family planning in Malawi by championing innovative service delivery models. BLM is a household name in Malawi, delivering services to more than 480 sites across the country. BLM?s outreach teams focus on providing family planning to the most hard-to-reach women in the country, adapting the model for each of the communities they serve. It is estimated that almost half of the women using a modern family planning method in Malawi received it from Banja La Mtsogolo.
Government of the Republic of Malawi?2013 EXCELL Awardee (Government)
The 2013 EXCELL award for family planning achievement at the country level recognizes the Government of the Republic of Malawi, for outstanding results in expanding access to and voluntary use of family planning services at all levels of the health system, public and private. The use of modern contraceptive methods among married women of reproductive age in Malawi increased from 28% in 2004 to 42% in 2010. Malawi has also improved equity in access to family planning, especially for disadvantaged subgroups, including rural and low-income women and women without education. Further, Malawi has communicated the value of family planning via mass and folk media and through the involvement of local leaders.
Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia?Special Recognition
The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia received special recognition at ICFP 2013 for its strong and consistent political commitment to family planning. Over the past few years, Ethiopia doubled the percentage of women using contraceptives (from 15% in 2005 to 29% in 2011) and has pledged to more than double that percentage again (to 66% by 2015). Ethiopia?s family planning successes are due to innovative use of front-line health workers who deliver family planning services in rural and hard-to-reach areas. (Because of its central involvement in ICFP, the Government of Ethiopia was not eligible for a 2013 EXCELL Award at the country level.)
